Half-marathon organiser sorry over medals mix-up

Runners completing Sunday's race were handed medals that said "2024 Finisher"

The organiser of a half-marathon has apologised and offered to replace finishers' medals after their ribbons were printed with the wrong year.

Thousands of runners took part in the Chelmsford Half-Marathon in Essex on Sunday, but received medals with ribbons marked "2024 Finisher", as first reported by Essex Live.

Race director Andrew Martin said it was down to "a silly error on my behalf which I will never make again".

One runner posted a picture of his medal on social media, writing, "They had one job to do!" while another person joked, "Jeez. How slow are you?"

Thousands of runners took part in the Chelmsford Half-Marathon on Sunday

Another commenter said: "It's funny and novel. The important thing is the event gets better every year."

Mr Martin said the event had gone well, with 1,820 places selling in 24 hours.

But he said: "We had the medal mess-up as well, which is completely my fault - I hold my hands up.

"[It was a] genuine human error on my part. It was just the ribbon."

He emailed runners acknowledging the "massive blunder", explaining he had ordered the medals for the event halfway through 2024 but had given the wrong year.

"When I checked the medals four weeks ago and shared a photo of the medal on socials, I did not spot the wrong date on the ribbon," he said.

He said he would place an order for the correct ribbons and post them out to all 2,350 finishers.

Mr Martin said this would cost between £3,000 and £3,500, mainly due to postage.

Apart from the medals mix-up, he said the event had been a great success with thousands of pounds raised for charity.

He said there was an "amazing turn-out for the event and it is a fantastic event for the local economy".